At Penguicon 5.0 in 2007, cutting-edge SF author Karl Schroeder joins Ron Hale-Evans, author of Mind Performance Hacks, and Dr. Jonathon Sullivan MD PhD in neurology, to consider âThe brain is a computer, the mind is software.â Thatâs been the ruling metaphor of cognitive science, neurology and AI studies for decades. The software of thought is supposed to operate much like that of a computer, going from discrete state to discrete state. However a new study from Cornell shows that our thoughts change continuously; the brain works âin shades of greyâ. And there are good reasons to think that the mind is not an artifact of the brain alone, but is extended into the environment as well.